Smart Grid News

Utilities seeing improvements in smart grid integration

SUBNET Solutions Inc | Thursday, October 06, 2011

International Telecom company Alcatel-lucent and China's State Grid Information and Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (SGIT) have teamed up to advance the ways that utilities can increase the intelligence of their power distribution systems. The duo hope to improve the emerging smart grid to help utilities measure, monitor, control, adjust and distribute power continuously and instantly, Renewable Energy World reports.

By working together, Alcatel-Lucent and SGIT will address some of the most troubling challenges the new grid faces, and will develop more efficient ways to analyze data collected by the system and deliver it to the utility. The information can then be used by the utility to keep track of demand and manage delivery, according to the news source.

The problem of manually managing power may be a thing of the past in the new smart grid, with new software programs offering substation automation that can instantly analyze power distribution data and automatically relay it to the correct end user in the most efficient manner possible.

SUBNET Solutions Inc., a leading provider in substation automation software, offers intensive week-long sessions to develop the optimum design to fit utilities' needs for automation. The sessions have been proven to simplify the complexity of substation automation and reduce reliance on expert users.

The smart grid is seeing major improvements in the U.S. as well, the media outlet states. A new report released by Gridwise Alliance, a U.S. smart grid advocacy coalition, explores how furthering the development and deployment of the smart grid could impact the electric energy industry.

"All levels of the electrical energy industry chain can learn from this report on how best to reform their efforts and equip their employees with new skills needed to achieve success with the transformed grid," said Randy Berry GridWise Alliance Board liaison for the Education and Workforce Group.

According to Green Tech Media, the smart grid must also focus on cybersecurity if it is to see success in the future.

At a recent smart grid panel discussion, National Electrical Manufacturers Association Industry Director for Smart Grid Paul Molitor made a startling comparison of cybersecurity in the financial sector to cybersecurity in the power industry.

"Credit card swipe machines have the ability to encrypt data, whereas many of the devices on the grid do not," he said.

SUBNET's software is designed to meet today's stringent cybersecurity standards established by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, enabling remote access to be conducted securely.